Fans are only just realising why scoring two goals in a football match is called a ‘brace’
MANCHESTER CITY striker Erling Haaland is no stranger to netting a brace – he has done it seven times this season.
The term is used when one player scores two goals in a match.
It may have been used by commentators, pundits and writers for years, but fans are only just realising why it’s called a brace.
It’s not quite a hat-trick, but its history is just as fascinating.
Picking up our football dictionary, the word is thought to date back to the Anglo-French language.
Back then, it meant a “pair of arms”.
And in the Old English language, a “brace” was used in hunting terminology to mean a duo of something had been killed or shot.
To the modern day, football has taken this term to essentially mean a pair of goals.
It first started being used in the beautiful game during the 19th century when people used the phrase “scoring a brace of goals”.
Nowadays, it has simply been shortened to just calling it a “brace”.
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So, next time Haaland smashes in his second of the game, you’ll know the history behind why Martin Tyler on commentary or Gary Neville back in the studio use the word.
Football has many peculiar terms, such as “nutmeg” and “derby“.
Luckily, SunSport have all your questions covered, from why no London club has the name of the city in their name to the explanation behind the Barcelona badge containing the St George’s cross.